Whilst the US were keen to relinquish this territory, Churchill wanted to use it as a bargaining chip, warning against retreating until the Allies were satisfied about Poland and the Russian occupation of Germany. Roosevelt pointed out that whilst allies, the US were not there to help Churchill hang on to his “archaic, medieval empire”.īy 8 May, VE Day, Western forces had pushed around 150 miles beyond the Yalta agreed boundaries to a line of contact with the Soviets. However, Roosevelt, being anti-imperial, suspected this was part of Churchill’s ambition to maintain the British Empire’s influence America wanted to maintain Soviet cooperation to help defeat Japan.
Churchill had also been alarmed by reports of systematic rape and destruction by the Soviets in Berlin and occupied territories, with infrastructure stripped and sent back to Russia. Watch NowĬhurchill was determined fair elections were held, viewing the spread of communism as a threat to British interests in Europe and believing a military confrontation with the Soviet Union increasingly inevitable. (He also had 2.5 million Soviet soldiers around Berlin and Eastern Germany.)ĭespite his Yalta Conference pledges of free and fair elections in Poland, it became clear Stalin later reneged on these.Īlexandra Richie tells the tragic story of Poland's "liberation" after the Second World War. Stalin had virtual control of Poland, and was setting up a provisional, communist, pro-Soviet government. Russia had lost over 25 million citizens and a third of its national wealth during World War Two, prompting Stalin to believe he had every right to take as much European territory as a prize as he could get away with. Stalin was deeply suspicious of the other powers, believing they had delayed the Allied invasion of Italy and the invasion of Normandy to cause the Soviet Army to struggle alone against Nazi Germany, to wear each other down. Recognising that they were on their way to defeating the Axis powers, the Allied leaders met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 to discuss how to re-divide and distribute Europe after the war. Operation Unthinkable was born from Churchill’s growing concerns over the Soviet Union’s intentions in Europe.
Why was such an audacious plan even considered so close to the end of such a mighty conflict as World War Two, especially against a country that had been a significant and valuable ally? Growing concerns The plan, however, was ultimately deemed unfeasible and did not go ahead. It aimed to launch a surprise attack on the Soviet Union and force Stalin’s communist government to retreat from Eastern Europe, stopping the spread of communism. ‘Operation Unthinkable’ was a secret military plan proposed by Winston Churchill and developed by the British Armed Forces and the USA in May 1945.
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